


Stay with me (until I go)

by Everydayishark



Series: Monsta X bingo [3]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, Comfort/Angst, Fluff and Angst, I'm sorry for this, M/M, Monsta X Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 23:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7820791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everydayishark/pseuds/Everydayishark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Minhyuk is an angel looking for lost souls on Earth. Instead he finds Hyunwoo, a dying man, who asks him to stay with him in his final moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay with me (until I go)

With a soft thud his feet land on the ground. The descend to Earth is a long and tedious flight, especially considering the fact he has to listen to Kihyun’s yapping for several hours straight. Minhyuk shakes out his wings, straightening out the soft, white feathers, and then folds them back in. Once folded, they disappear into his back entirely. Even without the wings, Minhyuk barely passes for a human. His skin is pure and without flaw, his hair is fair and shines even in the darkest hour, his features perfect and ethereal.

At least, that’s what they say. He’s heard the rumors. About His Favorite, fairest amongst all angels, a man faultlessly sculpted by His hand. A Heavenly being amongst all heavenly beings. Lee Minhyuk.

Minhyuk himself, feels like it’s all exaggerated. Most of the rumors are. He’s never talked to God, so he highly doubts he is His favorite, and he is nowhere near the Fairest.

Normal humans cannot see them, not unless they’re dead or dying.  Minhyuk and Kihyun have come to Earth to find lost souls. Most people, when they die, go straight to where they are supposed to go. If they have lived a good life, they will go to heaven, if they have done something bad, they will go to hell. But some people get stuck in between, tethered to Earth by some unfinished business, unresolved feelings or lingering thoughts.  Those people are unable to move on, trapped forever in a place that is neither here nor there, where no one can hear or see them.

Minhyuk and Kihyun have come to Earth to collect these lost souls and send them on their way. They decide to separate to cover more ground. Minhyuk watches as Kihyun takes off, his brown-tipped wings ruffling softly as he glides on the wind.

Minhyuk decides to walk at first, enjoy the peace and quiet of a world that hasn’t quite awakened yet. It’s breezy and a little cold, but Minhyuk likes the chill.

\--

As he walks into the city, he hears it. It’s soft and subtle at first, a slight humming in the back of his head. The wandering souls cry in the darkness, they call out to the light, and the angels are drawn to them (demons too, but that is an entirely different matter).

The humming in his head gets louder the further he moves between buildings, changing into a high pitched shriek as he turns around a corner. Minhyuk clutches his ears (to no avail, because the sound comes from WITHIN his head, not from outside) until he sees it.

A figure sitting hunched in the corner of an ally. A figure not quite here, and not quite there. Minhyuk walks closer. He sees it is a man, probably in his early twenties. His figure is flickering (a sign that he has been stuck for too long). The man looks scared.

Minhyuk crouches down next to him.

“Hey.”

The man’s head jerks up, pupils shaking, looking absolutely terrified.

“Oh my god. Y-You can see me?”

His voice is weak and unsteady. He obviously hasn’t talked to anyone in a long time.

“Yes. My name is Minhyuk. I’m here to help you. What’s your name?” Minhyuk shows the man his friendliest smile, which seems to calm him down a little.

“J-Jooheon. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t anyone see me? Why can’t I talk to people?”

Jooheon’s soul glows bright and pure. He was a good man, robbed from his life as his car shot off the road while he was driving his girlfriend to a rehearsal of some sorts. It was a freak accident, caused by a loose wire in the braking system. The car hits a wall with full impact, instantly killing Jooheon.

Minhyuk lightly touches Jooheon’s arm, showing him bits and pieces of his final memories (he makes sure to leave out the most upsetting parts, no one wants to see the moment of their own death)

“I’m…. dead?” Jooheon tentatively touches his own arms, as if to test if they are still really there. He reacts calmer than most people when they hear about their own demise, but Jooheon seems ready to move on.

 “How about Minah? Is she okay?”

Miraculously, Minah, Jooheon’s girlfriend, came out of the car crash completely unharmed. Minhyuk watches her crawl out of the wreckage, trying to get to Jooheon, screaming, crying, but Jooheon is already gone. Because everything had gone so fast, Jooheon hadn’t realized he was dead, and his strong will to live had kept him in the in-between.

“Minah is fine. She misses you a lot, though.”

Jooheon smiles sadly. “I’m going to miss her the most. I was going to ask her to marry me next year.”

Minhyuk nods and stands up to reach out his hand. “It’s time to go.”

When Jooheon takes Minhyuk’s hand, his soul lights up. Slowly his body ascends, the outline of his corporeal form fading into thousands of lights.

Minhyuk watches him rise until he is nothing more than a millions of bright, shiny spots in the sky. Once Jooheon’s soul reaches heaven, the noise in his head subsides.

\--

Minhyuk hates it. He hates seeing people’s last moments, he hates seeing the death and the pain and the sadness, he hates seeing them suffer silently in the in-between. Knowing that they go to a good place does make it slightly better (Though he has also sent numerous people down to hell, and each time it breaks a piece off his heart)

He wanders through town a little longer, but his head stays silent, so he decides to move to the next city. He stands on top of a building and unfolds his wings. Now that he’s sure there are no more wandering mortals around he can return to his true form. Plus he’s tired of walking. He spreads his wings, savoring the feeling of the wind ruffling his feathers as he leaps off the ledge, letting his wings effortlessly carry him through the air.

\--

As he stops mid-air to admire the view, he sees movement in the corner of his eye. In the house next to him, a man stands in front of the window, his eyes and mouth wide open as if he’s seen a miracle.

_Shit. Did he see me?_

Minhyuk hovers closer to the window and the man backs away.

_…He definitely saw me._

With the absence of sound in his head, Minhyuk concludes the man is not dead. Minhyuk doesn’t know what to do. He has never interacted with a _living_ mortal. Because the man is alive, he cannot see into his memories, nor can he help him on his way. But since the man has seen him, wings and all, he HAS to do something.

He produces a small pin from his pocket and wedges it in between the window’s hinges. (Minhyuk doesn’t know how he knows how or why to pick a lock, it must have been a leftover from his own human life) He easily turns the hinge and the window springs open.

The man stumbles backwards onto his bed, eyes wide in terror. (the bed is set up next to the window, which is probably how he was able to see him so fast)

Minhyuk realizes that coming in through the window like some winged burglar may not have left the best first impression.

“M-Minhyuk?” The man stammers. Minhyuk cocks his head. How could this man, this mortal, this being that he has never seen before know his name?

“No… no… that’s impossible.” The man keeps shaking his head.  When Minhyuk approaches him, he recoils, trying to hide behind his hands, body pressed flat against the wall.

“No… no…” Minhyuk comes closer. He sees the man is crying, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“My name is Minhyuk, but I am not the Minhyuk you know.” Minhyuk says, threading carefully, which just makes the man cry harder.

“B-but you look j-just like him.”

“Like who?”

“M-Minhyuk. My husband. But that’s impossible. Minhyuk died seven y-years ago..”

He takes up the picture frame from his nightstand and shows it to Minhyuk. It shows a picture of the man and _his_ Minhyuk (who does look suspiciously much like Minhyuk, but with brown hair instead of white).

“I’m so sorry to hear that. Look, this was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t… you shouldn’t be able to see me.” Minhyuk stammers, clearly flustered.

Minhyuk doesn’t have any memory of his human life, nor does he know how long he’s been an angel. As far as he knows, he has always been an angel. So why does the sight of the picture unsettle him so?

Just as he wants to turn around to leave, the man grabs his wrist. “Don’t leave. Please. I… I don’t want to die alone.”

Minhyuk isn’t supposed to stay. Mortals cannot see angels, it is against the rules.

Minhyuk isn’t supposed to stay. But something in the man’s voice makes him hesitate.

Minhyuk isn’t supposed to stay.

But he does.

\--

Minhyuk sighs and sits down on a chair next to the bed. “Okay, alright, maybe. First of all, what is your name?”

The man smiles a weak smile. “Hyunwoo. Son Hyunwoo.”

Hyunwoo rearranges himself on the bed. Minhyuk sees his movements are sluggish, strained. Minhyuk sees that despite his muscular build he is skinny, too skinny, and his skin is a sickly blue-grey in some places. Hyunwoo is dying. This is why he could see Minhyuk, this is why his breathing is ragged and his forehead is damp. Hyunwoo is dying, fast, and he is all alone.

“Is there no one to care for you, Hyunwoo?” He asks, and Hyunwoo shakes his head.

“No. Our families--… I mean, my family, and Minhyuk’s, they did not approve of our relationship. We moved to a city where we knew no one to get away from other people’s judgement. Since Minhyuk died, I’ve been all alone here.”

“…Not even a friend?” Minhyuk asks softly.

“No. I mean, yes. We had friends. But Minhyuk was always the social one. He was always the one inviting people over. He was always the one greeting everyone, meeting new people, making new friends. But after his death… people stopped coming over. So I stopped asking. I’m not good at making contact with new people.” Hyunwoo looks down at his hands.

“When I first heard I had cancer, I didn’t even know who to call. My parents won’t talk to me. I haven’t seen my friends in years. Minhyuk was my world, my everything. Without him, I had nothing.”

Minhyuk wants to reach over, take him in his arms, and tell him it’s going to be alright. But he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know if it’s going to be alright, doesn’t know what will happen to Hyunwoo the moment he takes his final breath. All he can do is stay by his side.

“ _I’ll stay_.” Minhyuk whispers. “You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

Hyunwoo sinks back in his pillow with a smile. “ _Thank you_.”

\--

For the rest of the day, Minhyuk takes care of Hyunwoo while he rests. He brings cold wash cloths to put on his forehead, he makes him tea, he cooks him food. Hyunwoo is asleep most of the time, though he sleeps fitful and restless, waking in cold sweat. His body has long since rejected the medicine, so Hyunwoo is haunted by feverish dreams and fits of pain. Minhyuk does what he can to help him, but he can’t take the pain away.

Minhyuk sits down next to Hyunwoo on the bed, softly stroking away the hair that sticks to his forehead, wiping the sweat with a wash cloth.

“…Minhyuk? Can you show me your wings one last time?” Hyunwoo asks, eyes barely open. His fever is running high, and Minhyuk knows he doesn’t have long anymore.

Minhyuk slowly unfolds his wings, careful not to hit anything in the room. Hyunwoo reaches up to run his fingers along the white feathers, sending shivers down Minhyuk’s spine.

“Will I…. will I go to heaven too?” He asks quietly.

“…I don’t know.”

Minhyuk takes one of his feathers in between his fingers and plucks it out. He winces. It hurts, given that his wings are connected directly to his nervous system, but he takes the feather and gives it to Hyunwoo.

“If you do… come find me.”

Minhyuk doesn’t know why he feels so attached to this mortal, but even with no memory of him altogether Minhyuk feels drawn to him.

Hyunwoo closes his eyes for what feels like an eternity, and Minhyuk thinks this might be it, this might be the moment he dies. He pulls Hyunwoo to him, so his head rests in his lap. He feels Hyunwoo’s heart beating slower, skipping beats. Involuntarily, a tear runs down his cheek. His tear falls on Hyunwoo’s face, who slowly opens his eyes.

“…. _Minhyuk_ ….” Hyunwoo tries to lift his hand to Minhyuk’s face to dry his tears, but his body doesn’t listen, and his arm falls down midair. Minhyuk lowers his head, so that their foreheads touch, and they cry together until Hyunwoo no longer can.

With red rimmed eyes Minhyuk watches Hyunwoo slip in and out of consciousness, until finally he no longer opens his eyes, and his breathing hitches as his body goes slack and his heart stops beating. He dies clutching the feather to his chest.

Minhyuk feels his soul leave his body, and before he can do or say anything, it ascends in a torrent of light.

Minhyuk sits holding Hyunwoo’s lifeless body for the longest time.

When he finally decides to leave, he looks back once more, before he swoops from the window.

“Until we meet again, Son Hyunwoo…”

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops sorry this turned out much angstier than I intended it to be.  
> Also sorry Jooheon is dead. T_T  
> I didn't have enough time for this fic so I'm sorry it's a little rushed.
> 
> tldr; I am sorry for all of this.


End file.
